


Their Hard Eternities

by MsTrick



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Anal Sex, Basically the gods are gender fluid, Blow Jobs, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Kissing, M/M, Marriage, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythology - Freeform, Reaper76 - Freeform, Same-Sex Marriage, Seduction, Virgin Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 08:29:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18028301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsTrick/pseuds/MsTrick
Summary: The heavy wood doors to the throne room slammed open and then closed behind them. He felt a prickle of anxiety as Gabriel hauled him towards the raised chair. As Jack was flung into it, the linen around his waist flared and his bare ass slid across the cold obsidian.He stared up, askance.The God of the Underworld leaned over him, a hand on each of the armrests, until their faces were nearly touching. Jack’s stomach fluttered for all the wrong reasons. Gabriel smelled like petrichor, rich earth, not decay like Jack had assumed.“Your turn, then,” Gabriel invited, dark eyes glinting. “Command away.”((Or, the one where Gabriel is Hades and Jack is Persephone.))





	Their Hard Eternities

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy, taking some liberties with Greek mythology here. I've added a brief glossary in the end notes of all gods and creatures important to the plot, but I tried to make it so no prior knowledge is required to enjoy the story.
> 
> Immense amount of hugs, love and thanks go to [Tsurili](https://twitter.com/tsurili), who not only inspired the concept for this fic but motivated the hell out of me to write it <3
> 
> The title is taken from Lord Tennyson's poem "[Demeter and Persephone](https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/demeter-and-persephone%22)" because it's not pretentious enough to base gay video game fanfiction off epic Hellenistic mythology, oh no, we also need to drag in Romantic era poets. Never let those English lit classes go to waste, folks.

* * *

 

**Their Hard Eternities**

 

* * *

 

“Can you not spend so much time up there this year?”

Jack paused his restless pacing to shoot Gabriel a glare.

“It’s not my fault humans are fucking the world into warmer temperatures,” Jack snapped.

“Yeah, but you don’t have to be a complete bitch to their whims.”

“Says the one god who will never die. You still have no clue what this feels like.”

“No clue? I’m a shadow of what I was!”

“But just as powerful as ever,” Jack retorted.

With his white hair and assortment of scars, Jack appeared used and weary. He wore a tattered sleeveless shirt and frayed jeans instead of the smart and sumptuous clothes he used to sport. He certainly wasn’t powerless though, Gabriel thought as he watched Jack pace, his metal arms glinting in the throne room’s low light. Jack’s bones were slowly morphing into alloys and plastic compounds as well, rendering his movements more fluid but numbing his senses.

“When did this become about my status?” Gabriel asked, irritated. “All I asked was for you to spend less time up there. It’s frustrating that humanity seems to matter more than me these days. It’s _their_ beliefs that made you this way, not me, and yet you’re still running up to mom to make their lives better when it barely even matters anymore.”

“Thanks. I love hearing about how what I embody doesn’t matter. You still don’t fucking get it, even after all this damn time.”

“That’s not what I was saying.”

“Sorry we can’t all be as vital to the human experience as you are.”

“That’s not fair,” Gabriel snarled.

A pocket of air crackled and pixelated, turning distinctly purple and widening into what appeared to be a door.

Sombra appeared with a flourish.

“The God of Boundaries and Transgressing Boundaries, at your servi—”

“Finally. Let’s go,” Jack barked, grabbing his leather jacket and stepping through her portal without a goodbye.

“Well, fuck you too!” Gabriel yelled after him.

Sombra gave Gabriel a wide-eyed look, as if to ask what the hell he’d done this time. He turned and stalked off in response.

“Always a pleasure,” she muttered to his back.

The few other gods and creatures that lived in the underworld gave Gabriel a wide berth as he tore through the palace and meadows in a rage. His temper simmered and boiled over into volatile restlessness. Eventually, he flung himself down on a grassy hill overlooking the River Styx and hurled rocks into the glowing blue water, pissed at how closely the color resembled Jack’s eyes.

Down on the gritty bank, Moira had enlisted Charon to test how souls reacted to some new concoction of hers. After her sister fates weakened and faded, Atropos had taken the name Moira in their honor, and also taken on their roles, measuring and spinning and severing threads of life, twisting and experimenting. What could be drawn out? Which lives snapped unpredictably?

Gabriel used to oversee her experiments with rigid rules. These days, he didn’t care.

Humans thought so little of him now, ignoring death instead of facing it, fighting tooth and nail to cling to life even though he’d be kind to them if they submitted with dignity. The ingratitude was infuriating. Death wasn’t even a deity to them anymore; it was a faceless monster they flung technology at to avoid. So, Gabriel found his form transfigured into a swarm of dark nanites, kept human-shaped by a black coat, spiked gauntlets and a bone-white mask.

He wondered whether he would ever be allowed weaken and fade, or if he was doomed to remain conscious but intangible for eternity thanks to humans’ warped perceptions.

The loud, thumping gait of a four-legged animal approached his back. When he didn’t turn around to greet it, one of the massive dog’s heads shoved a wet nose into his side.

“Alright, alright, Jesse.”

While one head watched Moira suspiciously, the other two nuzzled into Gabriel, bullying him into a reluctant smile. The mythical beast flopped over, baring his belly and invading Gabriel’s personal space in no uncertain terms. All three tongues lolled out happily as Gabriel started scratching behind an ear. A red serape was tied around each of its necks, further ruining Jesse’s image as a fearsome guardian of the underworld’s gates.

“Some monster you are. Should have kept calling you Cerberus.”

Two or three centuries ago, when humans began treating dogs as pets more than beasts of burden, Gabriel decided to update his hound’s name to something cool, like Deadeye. But then Jack called him Jesse and that was the only damn thing he’d responded to since.

Because that’s what Jack did. Infused Gabriel’s stern world with light and whimsy.

Gabriel sighed.

It was going to be a long six months without him.

Some days he wondered if it would be less painful if he’d never met Jack, if he didn’t know what he was missing, if he’d never learned to compare the underworld without him to the underworld with him.

One glimpse. That was all it had taken. One glimpse and Gabriel’s fate had been changed for eternity.

He’d been in his throne room with the three Furies, discussing adjustments to the scales by which souls were judged. Sombra, still Hermes back then, had swooned into the palace wearing his usual traveler’s cloak and winged sandals, interrupting the conference with his usual audacity.

“Ah, my heart has been broken!” Hermes wailed, dramatically flinging himself across the marble steps leading up to the throne.

Face buried in his elbow, he flailed at the Furies to disperse them. Though the three goddesses of vengeance hissed at the insult, they knew they had to defer. Hermes was a favorite of Zeus and a slippery enemy to have. The three crones left the throne room in a huff.

“Can I help you with something?” Gabriel sneered.

“I've been chased away from the lovely Persephone by that she-wolf of a mother and all you want to know is do I have a message for you? You’re so heartless!”

“You’ve never seriously been in love in your entire existence.”

“Well, true,” he conceded, looking up with a cheeky smile. He floated to his feet with a bounce. “But you have to admit my list of lovers would look exceedingly more impressive with Persephone on it. Demeter’s beaten away everyone’s advances. Even Apollo and Ares have been unsuccessful.”

Gabriel had zero patience for Demeter’s manufactured familial relationship and the drama it entailed.

Humans envisioned gods the way they described themselves. They attributed personality traits and assigned sigils and drafted family trees that made them all seem incestuous. But really, the gods just _were_. They were human belief, aggregate and conscious, in the form that made the most sense at the time. They neither created nor destroyed one other. Their children were manifestations of energy already in existence.

With her overzealous attachment to her daughter, Demeter was an oddity. Like an actor lost in a role.

“Are you here with a message from Zeus or are you just here to fuck around while I work?” Gabriel growled, slouching on his dark throne.

“This _is_ the message from Zeus.”

“That you failed to woo Persephone?”

“Yup.”

“ _How_ is that a message for me?”

“Let’s just say Zeus thought it might be of interest. That he’s looking out for you. That he wouldn’t mind if, say, you wanted Persephone for yourself.”

“I have no interest in this idiotic competition to see who can lay an immortal, overprotected virgin.”

“You sure?” Hermes teased, suddenly appearing directly in front of Gabriel.

Hermes made a rectangle shape with his hands and drew them apart, opening a small window in reality. Sunshine blasted through it, temporarily blinding Gabriel, the warmth shocking in the coldness of the throne room. Apollo must still be crushing pretty hard if he was lavishing that much light on—

Gabriel blinked.

_Oh._

Hermes smirked.

“Persephone’s a guy now?” Gabriel asked, eyes glued to the figure in the field.

“Yep. About time, too. Demeter had been keeping him the same for _centuries_.”

Gods were always sliding in and out of new iterations of themselves, their appearances shifting with the ever-changing beliefs of humans. Hades himself had been an ugly crone, a headless man, a white-robed girl, a skeleton. And now, a bronze-skinned man with a dark beard.

Gabriel had been vaguely aware of Persephone as a young girl during humanity’s early years of agriculture, back when it was an amateur and unsophisticated endeavor, but he hadn’t seen much of her. The sheltered pet daughter of the Goddess of Spring and the Harvest held little interest for him. As far as he knew, Persephone existed to be doted on and spent most of her time lazing around in nature picking flowers.

Clearly, things had changed.

Gabriel really needed to keep up with human affairs more. When did growing and harvesting food become so robust an industry that Persephone had transformed into a handsome, muscular man?

Sweat dripped down his bare back as he worked in a field as golden as his hair, his suntanned skin glowing with it. Powerful arms bulged and flexed as he swung his scythe and bundled the wheat. His chest was broad and solid, crowned with a pair of dusky nipples. A single piece of cloth was wrapped around his hips, covering him until mid-thigh. It would have been less scandalous if he’d just been naked. Every time he bent and stood was a cruel tease, hinting at what was hidden. He turned as a female voice called out to him, revealing gorgeous blue eyes, a cleanshaven face and a generous smile.

Gabriel couldn’t look away. Desire rolled over his senses in a warm, bubbly rush. He couldn’t recall ever wanting anyone or anything the way he wanted this man.

A very smug Hermes left the little window open. Gabriel watched for a week, a month, entranced. Persephone was rarely alone. If it wasn’t Demeter, then it was Artemis or Athena accompanying him through meadows and dales. But one afternoon, he wandered into the woods by himself and Gabriel didn’t hesitate to split open the earth beneath his sandaled feet.

It wasn’t the most elegant or heroic of abductions, to be sure.

Especially since Gabriel miscalculated, and instead of catching his guest, they both ended up sprawled in a heap on the marble floor. A knee slammed into Gabriel’s solar plexus and his leg was bent awkwardly under him. At least there was no one else in the throne room to witness the kerfuffle.

“What the fuck?” Persephone rumbled, dazed.

The cloak beneath his hands was black and silky, and only half-covered a body of solid muscle. He pulled back to see who he’d landed on and those deep blue eyes narrowed in recognition.

“Welcome to the underworld,” Gabriel drawled up at him.

“Hades.”

Oh, Gabriel liked the way his name sounded in that voice, rough-hewn wood and honey. He also liked the feel of the blond’s weight on his thighs. And the delicious smell of him, a blend of masculine sweat and cut grass.

“Gabriel now.”

“...Like the angel?” Persephone asked, bemused.

“I’m changing with the times. Judaism is throwing some fun new myths out there. You should see what they assume I'm capable of.”

“So, why not go with Lucifer?”

“Because I’m not the goddamned devil. Death isn’t _evil_.”

“You just frickin’ _kidnapped_ me.”

“Impulse decision.”

“You do this a lot?”

“Uh... No. You’re the only one.”

The hint of embarrassment clinging to the underside of his words made Persephone believe him. Didn’t make him feel any better though. He realized he was still sitting in the God of the Underworld’s lap and lurched upwards.

“Then why take _me_?” He demanded.

Any glimpse of shyness vanished as Gabriel smirked, climbing to his feet with the grace of a panther.

“I liked what I saw.”

“Because that’s not a creepy answer.”

“Creepy is kind of my thing.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” he snapped, gesturing around him.

For all the eerie elements in the room, the feathered masks and bleached skulls lining the walls, Persephone couldn’t help but also note the rich quality of his surroundings.

The floors and sweeping columns were black marble inlaid with a wealth of gleaming gemstones. The imposing throne appeared to be carved out of obsidian. The other furniture was dark, sturdy wood and red satin that caught the light like blood. Large white candles and battered gold dishes of perfumed oil lent a sultry air to everything.

“You still going by Persephone?” Gabriel asked.

“Jack.”

“How very salt-of-the-earth.”

“Fuck off.”

“Suits your new form.”

The compliment caught Jack off guard.

A knock echoed throughout the large throne room. At Gabriel’s permission, one of the imposing doors swung open to reveal a bearded man with a ring of keys dangling from his rope belt.

“Forgive the intrusion, my Lord.” He glanced curiously at Jack. “My fellow judges and I are in disagreement with the Furies about the fate of a soul and we are in need of a final decision.”

“Alright. Coming, blondie?”

“You expect me to just tag along?” Jack huffed.

“Unless you want to sit by yourself alone in here.”

As Gabriel strode through the halls of his elegantly eerie home, the key-carrying judge fell into respectful step behind him. Jack, on the other hand, made a pointed effort to walk at Gabriel’s side, much to the judge’s alarm, which increased when they stepped out onto a granite veranda overlooking the River Styx and Jack commented:

“Wow. This place is miserable.”

With its endless night and silvery landscape, the underworld was a direct contrast to the world as Jack knew it. He’d spent his existence under blue skies at the side of his mother, flowers blooming in her hands, the land wealthy and generous beneath their feet, the broken earth erupting with humanity’s harvests.

The underworld was the end of all that. Nothing grew here. It was a ghost of the world above.

“Tis a bit unkind to criticize another’s home when one is a guest,” the judge murmured, gaze flickering nervously to Gabriel.

Jack recognized the subtle urge to be cautious and turned to face the judge.

“Apologies,” he said. “I do sincerely wish to irritate my kidnapper, but it’s not my intention to disconcert or insult you. I’m Jack, by the way.”

The judge stared in surprise for a few seconds before shaking the proffered hand.

“Aeacus.”

“I believe we have work to attend to,” Gabriel snapped.

He stalked across the veranda and descended the grassy slope towards the bank, where several individuals had gathered. Jack recognized the Furies, a trio of gnarled crones with leathery wings and terrible tempers, as well as Charon, who was leaning on his oar with a bored expression on his hideous face. Aeacus identified the remaining men as the other two judges of human souls. Apparently, the three of them had been kings once.

In the middle of them all was a shimmering ghost, fresh off Charon’s boat and indignant.

Gabriel made a striking figure as he approached them, his body tall and strong and handsome, nothing like their ghoulish and withered forms. He wore his power as comfortably as the black cloak that was fastened at his shoulder and loosely gathered around his waist. Though there was no crown on his head, there was no question of who was in charge here.

Jack caught himself tracing the muscles of Gabriel’s shoulders and upper back with his eyes and dragged his attention back to the situation at hand.

“What’s the problem?” Gabriel demanded, patience already thin.

“There isss no problem,” one of the Furies hissed. “He killed hisss brother. This sssoul is ours to punish.”

“Incorrect,” one of the judges responded. “Do you see his brother’s soul anywhere?”

“Attempted fratricide is no lesss a crime then successsful fratricide. He cut his younger brother down with hisss own two hands.”

“That seems fairly straightforward,” Gabriel stated, folding his powerful arms. “The Furies can have him.”

“Wait!”

They all gaped, incredulous at the interruption. Jack shone like a star in their midst, golden and out of place.

“I want to hear what the judges have to say as well,” he said.

“This doesn't concern you,” Gabriel growled.

“Then you shouldn’t have invited me to come along,” Jack retorted. “Aeacus, why do the judges object?”

“Why do you interfere with our work, Child of Ssspring?” The ugliest of the Furies asked. “We don’t take kindly to those who disssrespect their eldersss.”

“Forgive me, ma’am,” Jack said, meeting her bloodied eyes without flinching. “I certainly don’t doubt the wisdom of goddesses as ancient as you. If vengeance is due, no one would question your right to take action. I’ve heard magnificent, terrible stories of the retribution you deliver. But I also have no doubt that you’re fair in your judgments and take pride in punishing only those who deserve it.”

“Cheeky,” she replied, tittering girlishly.

If Gabriel didn’t know any better, he would have said she appeared flattered. Charmed, even.

Aeacus looked to Gabriel, who rolled his eyes and gestured permission to speak.

“Thank you, my Lord. We believe this case is slightly complicated. While it is true that this soul attempted to kill his brother, it was at the behest of his family, who are well known to be corrupt. This soul is a skilled warrior and the task should have given him little difficulty, and yet his brother lives. We believe he intentionally botched the assassination and then lied to his family in order to spare him.”

“Is that true?” Jack asked the ghost, who startled at being spoken to directly.

“Souls do not have a say in their own fates,” Gabriel interjected. “They have a tendency to say anything that will secure them a more comfortable afterlife.”

“I do not seek comfort,” the ghost insisted. His voice sounded distant, as though being carried on a breeze. “I struck down my brother. That my family commanded it and that he lived are both irrelevant. I deserve torment.”

“But you regret your actions?” Jack asked.

“I do not.”

“There? Sssee?” Hissed one of the Furies.

“Why not?” Jack pressed.

“Because had I not accepted the task of assassinating my brother, it would have been given to another. And I know no one else in my family would have spared him.”

“You love your brother dearly, don’t you?"

“…Yes,” the ghost said, looking away.

“It isn’t right to send such a burdened soul to further torment,” one of the judges insisted.

“He isss far from innocent though,” said one of the Furies. “He hardly dessserves Elysium.”

“I cannot accept paradise,” the ghost declared.

“Okay, shut up all of you,” Gabriel commanded. “Send him to the Asphodel Meadows, with the other souls whose work is done.”

“But sssurely—”

“My Lord—”

“Enough!” Gabriel barked. “You asked for my decision and you have it. Return to your duties.”

After a brief hesitation, the three judges bowed, not only to Gabriel but Jack as well, and escorted the ghost to what was to become his resting place. The Furies ought to have been shrieking in anger at their escaped victim, but they unfolded their wings and leapt into the air.

“It was an honor to meet you,” Jack said.

“You’re lucky you're cute,” the ugliest replied before they took their leave.

Harsh laughter shredded the quiet.

“The mighty Hades be fallin' low,” Charon sneered from his place on the dock. “Naming himself after angels, mopin’ over his lonesomeness, lettin’ a ghost sway his own fate. What’s next? Free drinks for every soul with a sob story?”

“Hold your tongue or I’ll take it from you,” Gabriel warned, voice low and dangerous.

The skeletal oarsman returned to his creaking gondola and pushed off without another word, but a mean smile remained on his face. The glowing water rippled in his wake. 

Now that they were alone, Jack rounded on Gabriel, his mannered diplomacy evaporating

“So? You gonna order me around, too? Assign me backbreaking work? Threaten me?”

“And what if I did? You’re in my realm. It’s my right.”

“You nearly damned a noble soul to eternal torment because you barely had the patience to listen to a few minutes of explanation. Was that also your right?”

“Of course. I’m a busy man. My time is precious.”

“Or you’re lazy.”

“Watch it, blondie,” Gabriel growled.

“Or is yelling commands and fucking up others’ existences the only way you know how to communicate?”

Gabriel’s temper broke with the power of a storm.

_“That’s it!”_

A grip like iron clamped around Jack's wrist and he found himself being dragged back up the grassy bank and through the palace, his sandals slipping on the smooth marble. He tried to resist but there was no overpowering Hades in his own realm. The heavy wood doors to the throne room slammed open and then closed behind them. He felt a prickle of anxiety as Gabriel hauled him towards the raised chair. As Jack was flung into it, the linen around his waist flared and his bare ass slid across the cold obsidian.

He stared up, askance.

The God of the Underworld leaned over him, a hand on each of the armrests, until their faces were nearly touching. Jack’s stomach fluttered for all the wrong reasons. Gabriel smelled like petrichor, rich earth, not decay like Jack had assumed.

“Your turn, then,” Gabriel invited, dark eyes glinting. “Command away.”

Jack blinked.

Whatever he’d been expecting, this was not it. He wet his lips, bewildered and flustered yet thrilled.

“Kneel, I guess,” he said.

Because it was the first thing he could think of.

Because he wanted to see if Gabriel would actually do it.

Only after Gabriel sank to the floor did Jack realize the eroticism of their positions. Gabriel hadn’t stepped back before kneeling, and was now between Jack’s knees, an amused expression on his face.

Again, Jack found his attention hooked by the other god’s beautiful arms. A cascade of possible follow-up commands streamed through his mind, all entirely inappropriate.

“Anything else?” Gabriel hummed, as though reading Jack’s thoughts.

“I’m thinking,” Jack groused.

It occurred to him that he’d never really been in a position to give orders before. No one had ever voluntarily given him power over them, especially none of his suitors.

Smiling, Gabriel drew circles on one of Jack’s kneecaps with his fingertips. Jack’s toes curled at the intimate tickling sensation. His throat went dry with an emotion he didn’t recognize.

“Tell me what’s on your mind,” Jack ordered.

“Besides that you’re the most alluring creature in the galaxy?”

“Think Aphrodite holds that title,” Jack deflected, blushing.

“Not just talking about your looks. You’ve charmed every creature you’ve met down here. You challenged me, dismissed thousand-year-old protocol. Do you know how many people in the history of my existence have dared to sass me? It’s not a long list.”

The corners of Jack’s mouth turned up.

“And Mother always said back-talking led to nothing but trouble.”

“All that hanging out with her and Artemis and Athena… I get the feeling there’s a large gap missing in your education.”

“I know what you’re referring to and I don’t think I’m missing much,” Jack huffed in defiance. “If you’re not trying to have children, sex just seems like a major distraction from actually getting something done. Zeus would be a far more effective ruler if he thought more with his head instead of his dick.”

“You sound like Hera,” Gabriel chuckled.

“My point stands.”

“Is existence all about being productive? Eros and Dionysus would have something to say about that.”

“Just because humans worship debauchery doesn’t make it worthwhile.”

“Could say the same thing about picking flowers.”

Jack scowled. And yet, despite his assertions, he hadn’t ordered Gabriel to stop touching his knee, even though those playful fingers were definitely drifting higher up his thigh.

“I think,” Gabriel began, voice low and smooth, “that you’re getting a little sick of being Mother Nature’s perfect child. I think you’re excited that human evolution is letting you break with her expectations, that you don’t always have to let her decide your fate.”

“What makes you say that?” Jack shot back, but his blue eyes gleamed and a private thrill hovered beneath his irritation.

Because it was true.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow and raked his gaze over Jack’s muscled body, shamelessly soaking in the sight of him.

“Let’s just say you look like you’re ready to do something a little different than pick flowers and follow instructions.”

The smoldering energy emanating from Gabriel washed over Jack like warmth from a fire, mesmerizing and luxurious. Fingertips continued to paint invisible pictures and words up his thigh. It wasn’t difficult to guess what the God of the Underworld was after. He was extraordinarily powerful; nothing was stopping him from just taking it.

And yet here he was at Jack’s feet.

It was exciting, humbling, almost unnerving. Jack couldn’t deny he was curious, even if he felt like he was about to be swallowed whole.

“So, teach me something then,” he challenged, defiant in the face of his own nervousness.

Gabriel smiled, slow and so ridiculously lascivious that Jack felt a blush explode across his face and chest.

“Is that a command?” He purred.

“Yes,” Jack coughed.

Gabriel sat back on his haunches and Jack watched, transfixed, as Gabriel bowed his head.

A lingering kiss was pressed into the tender inside of Jack’s knee and the sudden intimacy left him breathless.

Gabriel's mouth trailed slowly, reverently up his inner thigh. Desire began to pool hot in his groin and burn along his nerves. His eyelids dropped to half-mast. The rasp of a beard and soft lips morphed into open-mouthed kisses that lit up Jack’s entire being. A thumb rubbed back and forth over his other knee.

Jack was surprised to feel his cock already growing heavy and thick, pushing up into the cloth covering it. It seemed to be happening very fast, but then, what did he know? Their bodies weren’t technically human, so there were no biological urges to obey or cycles to follow. He’d never really explored the potential of the male form he’d wound up inhabiting.

Until now.

When Gabriel’s talented mouth reached the hem of the cloth, he stopped without warning. A noise Jack had never heard himself make before escaped his throat. When had his eyes closed?

Gabriel cheekily nuzzled the barely-concealed erection and Jack flat-out gasped as a bolt of electricity snapped through him. His hips lifted off the seat of their own volition. Gabriel chuckled, pleased.

Jack’s lips parted in anticipation.

But then Gabriel moved away and began planting lazy, heated kisses up the inside of Jack’s other thigh, starting at the knee and taking his time.

 _Oh,_ Jack realized foggily. _I’m not just going to be fucked. I’m getting seduced._

The kisses were interspersed with slow licks and teasing nips. Jack swallowed hard, felt the rising tide of his desire. Gabriel’s hands roamed, gliding up the sides of Jack’s legs and underneath the loose fabric to squeeze the flesh of his hips.

Callused fingers began working at the linen knot.

Jack dug his nails into the solid armrests. He heard his breathing, already raspy, break into an even faster pace when the cloth was untied and drawn to the side, exposing him to the cool air of the throne room.

Gabriel let out a hungry moan at the sight of Jack’s dick, ruddy and hard, wet at the tip. A blush skidded down the column of Jack’s throat. He was filled with a giddy sort of pride at the other god’s reaction.

Gabriel pushed his face into the tender junction where Jack’s upper thigh met his groin and hugged him around his waist.

“You are fucking perfect,” he murmured into the skin.

Jack’s heart hammered in his chest, overwhelmed by the unfiltered admiration and the feel of Gabriel’s hands and lips on him, wanting more, wanting things he hadn’t known he’d wanted, hadn’t known he could want.

“Kiss me,” Jack gasped out.

Gabriel looked up at him with liquid eyes to find Jack already leaning down to capture his mouth.

Gabriel pushed up into it without a second thought, and a sigh of satisfaction escaped both their noses. The kiss started gentle, cautious, as they nudged into each other, but Jack found himself greedy for the velvet heat of Gabriel's tongue.

Gabriel’s composure frayed as Jack, clearly burning up with the newfound arousal, tilted his head and pulled him closer. Their tongues curled into each other, hot and wet. Jack’s hands grew more daring and stroked up Gabriel’s biceps to grip those gorgeous shoulders and wrap around the sides of his neck. Gabriel nipped at his bottom lip and a wave of affection washed through him when Jack moaned.

“Learning a lot so far?” Gabriel poured the words into Jack’s mouth.

“Um, yeah,” Jack panted, trying to get a grip on his whirling thoughts, trying to resist the incredibly undignified yet very tempting urge to grind into Gabriel’s hard stomach, which was just barely grazing the head of his erection. “Wouldn’t mind if the lesson continued.”

“Well.” Gabriel gave a pointed look down. “I’d hate to deny someone so… eager.”

Jack bit his lip and grinned.

It was somehow adorably innocent yet astoundingly erotic at the same time. And Gabriel was glad his current incarnation had dark skin to hide the infatuated blush scorching his cheeks. Even though he was the one supposed to be doing the seducing, more and more he was finding himself thoroughly seduced.

Nudging another kiss into Jack’s lips, Gabriel scooped his balls into a firm hold and was rewarded with Jack arching into him with a shocked gasp. The friction was impossibly wonderful. Gabriel flattened his other hand on Jack’s chest, right over his pounding heart, and pushed him deeper into the seat of the throne.

And then Jack’s entire world dissolved.

Gabriel tongued the sensitive crown of his dick, licked long messy stripes down the length, sucked the entire shaft into the plush heat of his mouth, hollowed his cheeks and swallowed. Then began all over again.

Jack’s head thumped into the back of the chair. Whimpers caught in his throat and moans tore out of him, sharp and needy. The barrage of new sensations consumed him, disarming and delicious. His blunt nails dragged over Gabriel’s nape and shoulders and scalp, searching for purchase, something to ground him as his mind melted beneath wave after wave of pleasure.

It was surreal. He’d gone from an ordinary day of springtime labor in the sunshine to sitting naked on the God of the Underworld’s throne while said god ran a sinful tongue over the most intimate part of him.

Mouth full of Jack’s rigid heat, Gabriel groaned, guttural and deep. His eyes drifted shut in bliss.

Jack noticed Gabriel was palming his own cock through the silky cloak.

And that was all it took.

Lightning whipped up Jack’s spine. He arched, crying out in stunned release. Ecstasy thundered through his every cell, seizing every muscle. His hands spasmed and clutched at Gabriel’s shoulders as he shot liquid white into the back of Gabriel’s throat.

Gabriel pinned Jack’s upper thighs and sucked hard, drawing out the jolting aftershocks of Jack’s climax, loving the desperate sounds Jack was making, until the blond went boneless as a kitten.

Gabriel pulled off and dragged the back of his hand over his mouth with a self-satisfied air. And was taken completely by surprise when Jack dropped into his lap and kissed him hard enough to knock him back onto his elbows.

“Okay. More. More of that,” Jack panted, thrilled at the salt-bitter taste of himself on Gabriel’s tongue.

“That’s doable,” Gabriel laughed, biting off a moan as Jack settled snug on top of his straining erection.

“Your voice is all raspy. From what you just did to me. I like that.”

“Yeah, me t—Fuck, keep moving your hips like that.”

Jack obliged, thoroughly enjoying the feel of the hard length brushing the cleft of his ass through the silk, now damp.

"I still don’t—ah—see how meaningless sex is a productive use of any being’s time,” Jack said, even as his eyes fluttered shut.

“Who said anything about meaningless?” Gabriel chuckled, leaning up to catch Jack’s reddened mouth in another kiss. “I fully intend to marry you.”

Jack’s eyes flew open in surprise.

“We’re not all Zeus,” Gabriel added, an odd, quiet edge to his tone.

Jack searched his face, gaze deepening with understanding and warmth.

“You like me that much?”

“I do.”

Jack smiled. And then coyly ground down into Gabriel’s lap, pulling a sharp breath from him.

“You gonna teach me to return the favor then?”

“Gonna teach you more than that,” Gabriel growled.

The promise and the filthy kiss that followed it sent shivers down Jack’s spine.

Time moved at strange speeds when you didn’t technically need to eat or sleep, especially in the underworld. Neither Jack nor Gabriel could say if they spent hours or days in each other’s arms.

At least, until Hermes barged into Gabriel’s luxurious bedroom, unannounced, just as yet another round of kisses was developing into something heavier.

“Do you have any idea how long it took for me to steal the key to your bedroom from Aeacus?” Hermes demanded, glaring at Gabriel with eyes like amethysts. “Two weeks. But it’s not like I had a choice because we have a rather large problem on our hands, which you’d _know_ if you actually responded when someone knocked on your door.”

Then Hermes looked over at Jack. His jaw dropped.

Barely covered by the inky sheets, the blond looked absolutely _wrecked_. Scratches over his shoulders and neck, hickeys dotting his chest and collarbone, bruises on his hips and wrists, hair a well-tugged mess, dopey smile on his face, mouth red and swollen, skin glowing rosy.

In short, he looked like he’d been fucked apart and put back together just so he could be fucked apart again.

And that he’d enjoyed every single second.

“Damnit,” Hermes groused as soon as he found his voice. “Here I was hoping you’d be miserable and eager to go home."

“Why?” Gabriel asked, his scowl returning in full force.

“Demeter’s, uh, pretty upset.”

“Thought you said Zeus approved,” Gabriel said.

“He does. And he wanted Demeter to focus more on her work instead of her child. He just underestimated how extreme her grief would be. She’s kind of, uh, created a new season where nothing grows, and no one’s been able to convince her to revert.”

“But if nothing grows, humans will have nothing to eat,” Jack assessed, concern spreading across his features.

“Yup. And, y’know, no food means no humans means no us.”

Jack let out a heavy sigh and climbed out of the enormous bed. “Don’t really have a choice then, do I? Alright, I’ll come back up, see if I can talk to her.”

“Yay! Apocalypse averted!” Hermes sang, floating into the air.

Bitter disappointment coursed through Gabriel’s veins, along with acute rage at Demeter’s histrionics. It felt deeply unfair. What had he expected though? That the universe would allow him to keep such a ray of light in the underworld, no strings attached?

Jack’s strong arms were around his shoulders and he was being kissed, deep and loving. Enough to break Gabriel’s heart. He hugged Jack close, and for a flickering instant he understood how Demeter felt. Jack was worth trading the entire world for. But unlike the Goddess of Spring, Gabriel knew Jack would never stand for humans being hurt in his name, that he’d take all that responsibility on himself.

Jack pulled back to gaze into Gabriel’s eyes, brimming with warm confidence.

“This isn’t a goodbye,” he rumbled. “It’s a see-you-later.”

Gabriel gave him a small smile, but uncertainty lingered in his expression.

They dressed and made their way out of the palace, following the path through blue-gray meadows to a pair of enormous, silver gates. They passed several bewildered-looking souls, still shining with recent life, stark in the eternal night of the underworld.

Cerberus leapt to his feet as they approached. Unaccustomed to allowing anyone to leave through the entrance he guarded, he growled low in his throats. Gabriel put a hand on the great hound’s flank to stay him. Hermes stuck his tongue out and danced through the ornate gates to where a chariot and winged horse were waiting.

However, when Jack tried to pass through, an unexpected force prevented him from crossing the threshold. Cerberus’s three heads tilted in adorable confusion as Jack pushed at an invisible wall as impassable as stone.

Hermes rounded on him.

“Did you eat anything while you were down here?”

“No. Well.” Jack’s face reddened. “Uh. Does seed count?”

“What kind of seed?”

Jack gave an awkward cough. Gabriel snickered.

“You let the God of Death cum in your mouth? And you _swallowed_?” Hermes asked incredulously. “Are you fucking joking? Your mother will throw the planet into another ice age if she hears that. And what are you smiling about? Did you plan this?”

“It may have crossed my mind that that might be enough to keep him here,” Gabriel said with a shrug. “I didn’t know for certain though. Zeus worded the rule. Not me.”

Hermes slapped his forehead and dragged a hand down over the most exasperated expression Gabriel had ever seen him wear.  

“Sneaky asshole,” Jack said, annoyed but not nearly as angry as he should have been.

“I need a drink,” Hermes griped. He floated back and forth for almost a full minute. “Okay. Here’s how we’re going to spin this. You ate _pomegranate_ seeds. We can’t break the rules of the underworld, but I bet we can bend them. I can propose to Zeus that you spend part of the year here and part of it above with mama. That’ll have to satisfy everyone.”

And so their marriage went for centuries.

Humans evolved and the gods evolved with them, taking on new names and extraordinary new bodies. Many of their numbers accrued technological forms.

Athena became entirely intangible, an AI. All those aspects of humanity she embodied – wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, the arts, strength and skill – were all found online now. An invisible realm containing every human potential.

In direct contrast to Athena’s coolheaded strategy, Ares grew more vicious, more devoted to destruction. Wielding a gauntlet of terrible strength, he stalked the earth, looking to punch a hole in any pocket of peace.

Artemis remained the reliable moon, but now hunted with HUDs and rockets. Her fiercely defended chastity was still technically in place, if you didn’t count the sex she had with her girlfriend, the winged goddess of victory, as a loss of virginity. Apollo radiated light and music and positivity, as always, but had eschewed his chariot to instead cross the sky on roller blades.

Aphrodite, as beautiful as ever, evolved into Ana, still able to find targets with heart stopping accuracy yet with a more mature outlook. The dark-haired Goddess of Chaos, Eris, grew giddy and male, giggling over bombs in the desert. Hermes, patron of thieves, became Sombra, as slippery a trickster as ever, now wielding portals and the information highway instead of chariots and winged sandals.

But many of their ranks had faded back into ether, their existences no longer articulated. Aeacus and the other judges were among them. Sometimes Jack considered such a fate to be kind. Or at least, kinder than the deteriorated state that plagued gods like his mother.

He wove his way to the deepest part of the woods, where she rested. Like Jack, she was scarred and partially mechanized, weary of watching as the nature that had formed them was decimated and ravaged, as agriculture became a rote and empty industry, mechanical and heartless. There was no poetry there, nothing to worship. The merest hint of respect for the earth was all that remained.

Dead leaves were soggy underfoot. The smell of spring was faint in the air. The sky was watery and gray, the day bleeding out into evening. He unsnapped the white hockey mask as he approached a burrow concealed in the roots of an ancient tree and leaned his scythe against the gray bark. Demeter sat in the cozy space, knobbed fingers clutching a cup of tea. Her eyes lit up as Jack entered but dimmed when she caught sight of the mask.

“Do you have to play Grim Reaper while you’re aboveground? You can’t just be here with your mother?”

“How is helping my husband with his work any different from helping you with yours? Besides, it takes the load off some of the psychopomps. There’s not many of them left,” Jack sighed, shrugging off his black and orange jacket.

It was an argument they had every year, ever since Jack realized he could harvest the souls of the dead waiting to be escorted to the underworld and bring them with him when he was due to return. His mother hated it. Hated every scrap of influence Gabriel had on him. At least she no longer ran around screaming that her precious daughter had been abducted and violated.

“How are you feeling, Ma?” He asked, refilling her mug before settling into one of the chairs.

“Shit. Been coughing my lungs out.”

“The warm weather will help.”

“Nothing will help and you know it.”

There was a painful beat of silence in which he noticed her hair was thinner.

“The Furies are gone,” he said at length.

“Lucky them,” Demeter spat.

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s a shame though. If ever there was a time when the world deserved to be tormented by goddesses of vengeance, it’s now.”

“Try to be optimistic, Ma. There are plenty of good people still.”

“Did I start making it warmer outside already? I can’t remember.”

“You did, yeah. There are buds on all the trees and everything.”

“That’s good.” She shook her head, as though trying hard to concentrate. “Widowmaker is on the warpath again.”

“Widowmaker?”

“Yeah, you know. Widowmaker.”

“I don’t know who that is.”

“Yes, you do. I told you. It’s Hera’s new name.”

Jack knew she had certainly not told him that, but he simply responded, “Ah, right.”

“Zeus is sleeping around again. Or wait, he has some French name now. I don’t remember it. Anyway, their marriage is as fucked up as it ever was. It isn’t like Zeus is abandoned by his spouse every six months. I’ll say this for your Hades, at least he’s loyal.”

Jack looked at his mother in astonishment. This was literally the first nice thing she had ever said about Gabriel. She didn’t seem to notice however, and Jack hesitated to point out the departure from her usual antagonism. A fog was creeping back into her blue eyes. It wasn’t long before she was fast asleep.

Jack gently moved her mug to the table, the porcelain clinking against his metal fingers, and began tidying up to keep himself busy. His previous anger at his husband cooled into melancholy streaked through with some guilt. It had been unfair to leave him like that without even a goodbye. Because it was true. Throughout the centuries, Gabriel had remained faithful, even though Jack knew how loneliness gnawed at him, had known it since his very first night in the underworld, when Gabriel had set Jack on his throne.

Jack smiled at the memory.

In the honeymoon period that followed, Gabriel had obliterated and rewritten every preconceived notion of pleasure that Jack had.

Standing over his mother’s kitchen sink, Jack felt himself grow warm as he replayed those luscious two weeks. He could practically smell the perfumed oil that Gabriel had poured over them both, emptying the entire contents of one of the battered gold bowls. Gabriel’s fingers had skidded over Jack’s slick skin and they slid into him with breathtaking ease, the scorching intimacy a strangely addictive burn. He’d arched his back, craving more, which Gabriel gave him, inch by exquisite inch, his cock slotting into Jack like it belonged there.

Jack had moaned, lost, too far gone to care that he was on his elbows and knees in the God of the Underworld’s throne room, Gabriel’s ruined cloak the only cushion between him and the marble warming with their body heat. Gabriel gripped his hips and powered into him, possessive and irresistible, until Jack was howling and writhing, until his throat was raw and his limbs were shaking, until he forgot his own name.

They’d fucked three more times before they managed to stumble to Gabriel’s bedroom, where Jack had discovered the perfection that was Gabriel’s dick swelling to full hardness in his mouth, Gabriel praising him as he maneuvered his girth deeper down Jack’s throat, Jack’s own cock throbbing at just how intense it was, Gabriel pumping bitter liquid heat into his greedy mouth, that fateful swallow that bound them together tighter than any marriage vows could.

There were also quiet in-between moments, lovely and precious as pearls, where they just talked, laughing with their limbs overlapping and interwoven, obsessed with every facet of each other, physical and emotional and mental.

And then winter had come crashing in.

Jack saw the bruised realization in Gabriel’s eyes, that terrible fear that loneliness was his destiny after all, the guilty relief at Jack being unable to leave. Gabriel ruled a kingdom of ghosts, a realm that had only grown quieter over the centuries. Now, his only real companions were a witch fixated on fate, a spiteful oarsman and a dog.

Jack tucked a blanket in around his sleeping mother before slipping out. He left the scythe where it was. A chilly night had settled in over the woods, the buds sleeping before their anticipated bloom. The clouds prevented him from getting a view of Artemis, his oldest friend, but they’d have time to catch up later.

Sombra did not appear very impressed when he summoned her, but he managed to convince her to conjure a quick portal.

He found Gabriel in bed, staring at the ceiling, half his body dissolved into dark smoke. Jack drew closer and he sat up, assembling the nanites so he could rest his elbows on his knees.

“Hey,” Jack said softly.

“Won’t your mom throw a fit if you’re back here?”

“Weather’s screwy anyways. Spring one day, snow the next. You’d think the humans would be more freaked out.” Jack sighed. “I can’t stay too long but I wanted to say sorry. I am… terrified of what’s next for me, but I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I didn’t know you were an asshole.”

Jack rolled his eyes.

“But you’re my asshole.” Gabriel completely solidified himself and made room for Jack on the bed. “And yeah, I get that you’re worried.”

Jack wedged into Gabriel’s side and let himself be held, the tension melting out of him.

“I don’t think you’ll ever truly vanish,” Gabriel rumbled. “Even if humans burn down the whole world, they’re still going to need to grow something to eat and they’re gonna pray to someone to make that happen.”

“Shut up. I’m the one who's apologizing. It’s supposed to be me making you feel better.”

“You just being here does that.”

Jack tightened his hold around Gabriel’s waist. They lay there in comfortable silence for a few minutes, Gabriel absently running his hand through Jack’s hair.

“Tell me what’s on your mind,” Jack murmured.

“Is that a command?”

“Sure is.”

“Full disclosure. It’s dumb and poetic.”

“You? God of the Underworld? Dumb and poetic?”

“Shocking, I know,” Gabriel deadpanned.

“Go on.”

“Alright. I was thinking how living and dying are the same thing. I mean, everything that grows is technically always reaching towards death, in the way that spring inevitably leads to autumn. Every day something is alive is another step towards the end of that life. But it’s a cycle. The energy of everything that dies gets recycled into new life. So, dying is just another step towards living. Basically, we’re perfect for each other. You make things grow and I help things die.”

Gabriel glanced down, half expecting Jack to be rolling his eyes and snickering. Instead, he was met with a tender smile that made Gabriel’s heart hop like a rabbit.

“Have I ever told you how happy I am I married you?” Jack asked.

Gabriel tipped Jack's face up to press a kiss to his lips.

“You may have mentioned it, yeah.”

 

 

**END**

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Any kudos or comments are much appreciated! (づ￣ ³￣)づ
> 
>    
> Mini Glossary 
> 
> Hades (Gabriel) - God of the Dead and king of the underworld  
> Persephone (Jack) - A goddess of vegetation and agriculture. Daughter of Demeter. Described as a formidable queen of the underworld.  
> Hermes (Sombra) - God of Trade, Thieves, Border Crossings et al. Known as the gods' messenger because of his ability to move between the mortal and divine worlds, including acting as an occasional guide to the underworld.  
> Cerberus (McCree) - A multi-headed dog that guards the gates to the underworld to prevent the dead from leaving.  
> Charon - The ferryman who carries newly dead souls across the rivers that divide the land of the living and the underworld. He is notorious for being unbribable.  
> Demeter - Goddess of Spring, Agriculture, Grain and the Harvest. Also presided over the cycle of life and death.  
> The Furies - The three goddesses of vengeance. Described as terrifying crones, they punish both the living and the dead.  
> Aeacus - A king of the island of Aegina in life who became one of the three judges of souls in the afterlife. He is also the keeper of keys in the underworld.
> 
> Since everyone else is only very briefly mentioned, I didn't really see the need to include them here. Wikipedia has a better rundown anyway lol


End file.
